UPDATE: PA Candlelight Vigil for Slain Dogs - articles & video

August 17, 2008

Dear Companion Pet Lovers ~

Some additional coverage of last night's vigil...

Mary O'Connor-Shaver

Cell: 614-271-8248

Columbus Top Dogs (Shure Pets)

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Slain dogs honored

Berks breeders shot 80 canines last month

By Susan Lindt, Intelligencer Journal

August 16, 2008

http://tinyurl.com/6352u8

Under a full moon, more than 100 people gathered on a country road here Friday night for a somber candlelight vigil to remember 80 dogs shot to death by two Amish farmers late last month.

The farmers, Elmer Zimmerman of E & A Kennel, and his brother, Ammon Zimmerman of A & J Kennel, operated large-scale breeding kennels on adjacent properties at 15416 Kutztown Road and 201 Kohler Road, respectively.

On Friday night, Elmer Zimmerman parked a tractor across his lane to block the crowd from his property. Animal advocates representing Lancaster's United Against Puppy Mills, Main Line Animal Rescue in Chester Springs, North Penn Puppy Mill Watch in Montgomery County, New Jersey Consumers Against Pet Shop Abuse, Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and various other organizations sang "Amazing Grace" and left 80 chrysanthemums and 80 dog biscuits by Zimmerman's tractor in memory the 80 dogs shot to death by the brothers.

"These were dogs with no names. These were dogs that none of us ever knew," said Jenny Stephens of North Penn Puppy Mill Watch. "These were dogs who never knew the kindness a human hand can offer and these were dogs who died a violent and terror-filled death with no one to comfort them."

After a July 24 inspection of his kennel, Elmer Zimmerman faced several citations for poor kennel sanitation and maintenance, and was ordered to seek veterinary care for 39 of his 85 dogs.

Jessie Smith, deputy secretary of the state Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement, said Elmer Zimmerman told the inspecting dog warden that he planned to close his kennel, but he did not want to surrender his dogs to an animal rescue organization or shelter as the warden suggested.

Smith said Elmer Zimmerman contacted the inspecting warden several days later to say he killed 70 of his dogs.

Although Ammon Zimmerman's kennel had not been inspected and he faced no citations at the time, he also called a dog warden to say he shot 10 of his dogs and was going out of the breeding business.

The shootings shocked the well-organized world of animal advocates, as well as state officials endorsing House Bill 2525, which proposes sweeping changes to state laws governing breeder dogs who spend their lives in the state's hundreds of large-scale commercial breeding kennels.

"The decision by commercial breeders to kill healthy dogs instead of paying to repair a kennel and seek veterinary care is alarming and will likely outrage many people," state Secretary of Agriculture Dennis Wolff said in a statement released earlier this week. "Until our state's outdated dog law is changed, kennel owners may continue to kill their dogs for any reason they see fit, even if it is simply to save money."

On Friday night, people at the vigil expressed horror at the fate of the Zimmermans' dogs. Some20saw the Zimmermans' actions as a spiteful retaliation against Gov. Ed Rendell's initiative to curb the lucrative puppy mill business.

"It absolutely sucked the wind out of me when I heard," said Libby Williams of New Jersey Consumers Against Pet Shop Abuse. "Is there no end to the depravity of these people? I do think it was spite. But they did the state a favor. People are now learning the truth about the 'gentle' Plain people. And this has been in every newspaper across the country."

Howard Nelson, CEO of PSPCA, cut short his vacation by a day and drove straight to the vigil after he heard the news.

"It's not uncommon for puppy millers to shoot or drown their dogs instead of spending money on medical care," Nelson said. "There may have been some spite in this case, but I'm just calling it pure evil."

Rendell, who pushed for legislation to improve breeder dogs' living conditions in an effort to dissolve the state's reputation as a puppy mill hub, als

o is aware of the Zimmermans' actions.

Rendell scheduled a news conference for 2 p.m. today in Philadelphia's Schuylkill River Dog Park to comment on the Zimmerman incident and the need for H.B. 2525.

"The governor is very, very upset by this," Rendell spokeswoman Teresa Candori said this week. "He is a dog lover, and he's outraged by this news. He believes this is evidence that House Bill 2525 is desperately needed."

Also reacting to the story was Stephanie Shain of the Humane Society of the United States.

"This shooting highlights the rampant problems with commercial breeding in Pennsylvania," Shain said. "This industry is in desperate need of reform and oversight."

The state may have more to lose than breeder dogs if H.B. 2525 dies.

Author, psychologist and animal welfare advocate Jana Kohl has vowed to wage war on Pennsylvania's Amish tourism industry by exposing inhumane treatment of breeder dogs by the Amish and Mennonite communities.

"Two thousand of the country's 10,000 commercial breeding kennels are owned by Amish and Mennonites," Kohl said earlier this month. "One of the ways to impact (this industry) is to shame and embarrass them by putting as many billboards and ads in as many places as possible. We can point the finger to Pennsylvania as aiding and abetting this horrific business that is nothing more than legalized torture."

On Friday night, people at the vigil called out the names of "the guilty," legislators who opposed or failed to endorse amending current dog laws. Included were Lancaster County state Reps. Dave Hickernell and Gordon Denlinger, who last year called Lancaster dog breeding "an issue of farmland preservation" and said, "There's a certain question about the removal of a person's livelihood. Should an animal enforcement officer be able to throw a person out of their occupation on a given day?"

For her part, Kohl, whose family founded Kohl's department stores, promises her clout isn't the only force behind the coming campaign.

"A lot of people with a lot of money and resources are prepared to venture into a campaign like this," she said. "It's going to be a bigger and more embarrassing campaign than people expect, and it's going to shock."

E-mail: slindt

Many protest killing of dozens of dogs by Maxatawny Township kennel owner

By Erin Negley, Reading Eagle

August 16, 2008

http://tinyurl.

com/6h289c

Friday night, animal-right activists placed 80 white chrysanthemums at the property line - one for each dog shot and killed by the kennel owners.

They scattered dog biscuits on the narrow road.

And they blew out candles marking the vigil when one of the kennel owners, Elmer H. Zimmerman, approached those who lingered afterward.

Clearly shaken, Zimmerman apologized for killing the dogs. How could he stop the harassing calls to his Maxatawny Township farm, he asked.

"I'm very sorry this has all happened," Zimmerman said.

The vigil was organized by three groups - North Penn Puppy Mill Watch, United Against Puppy Mills and Main Line Animal R

escue - to memorialize the 80 dogs shot and killed by Zimmerman and his brother, Ammon H. Jr., also a kennel owner, last month.

About 100 people attended the vigil outside Zimmerman's property on Kutztown Road.

"We're doing this to give animal advocates and dog lovers a chance to say goodbye to these dogs that were brutally slain," said Jenny B. Stephens, coordinator of North Penn Puppy Mill Watch, Lansdale, Montgomery County.

The Zimmermans killed the animals in late July after a state dog warden noticed sanitation and maintenance violations at E & A Kennel, owned by Elmer Zimmerman. Wardens found fleas and fly sores on 39 dogs and ordered veterinary checks.

Instead, after calling his veterinarian, Elmer Zimmerman killed all 70 of his dogs because, he said, he thought he was complying with a state order that required him to act immediately or face legal action.

Ammon Zimmerman Jr. shot his 10 dogs.

Both men surrendered their licenses and closed both kennels.

Since word of the killing got out, outraged animal-rights activists used the dogs' deaths to push for legislation to mandate that only licensed veterinarians be permitted to euthanize dogs in commercial breeding kennels.

The activists gathered in the parking lot of Marie's Kitchen Restaurant at 8 p.m. Friday and walked with their dogs to the nearby vigil.

"If you don't speak against it, the general public will remain ignorant of the conditions, and animals will continue to suffer," said Terry A. Terzuolo, a volunteer from Main Line Animal Rescue, Jeffersonville, Montgomery County.

The group crowded around several speakers, straining to hear over the traffic.

The speakers asked how this could happen.

When he walked out to the road, Elmer Zimmerman told Berks-Lehigh Regional police Officer Peter Nickischer he was sorry. Nickischer was there to provide traffic control.

"I just got the impression that I had 20 things wrong on my farm and I've got to work day and night to get things back to the way they should be," he said.

Zimmerman raised cocker spaniels, poodles and other small breeds at the kennel for several years. He sold the dogs to dealers and directly to owners.

The kennel was an extra source of income. To make up the difference, he'll have to milk more cows, he said.

Helen Smith, a volunteer with the Main Line group, said he could have taken the dogs to a shelter instead of killi

ng them.

Zimmerman said he didn't know that.

In the past week, his phone line has been busy with harassing calls.

As he walked away, one of those who took part in the vigil said that Zimmerman deserves much more than nasty calls for his actions.

If Zimmerman missed the remark, he was familiar with the sentiments.

"I understand there's a 1,000 people against me," Zimmerman said. "I want to have peace again."

Contact reporter Erin Negley at 610-371-5047 or enegley

< b>Video Links to Vigil

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local & id=6331539